Marc Lépine (French pronunciation: ?[ma?k lepin]; born Gamil Rodrigue Liass Gharbi; October 26, 1964 – December 6, 1989) was a Canadian mass murderer from Montreal, Quebec, who in 1989 murdered fourteen women, and wounded ten women and four men at the École Polytechnique de Montréal, an engineering school affiliated with the Université de Montréal, in the École Polytechnique massacre, also known as the "Montreal Massacre".Lépine was born in Montreal, the son of Canadian nurse Monique Lépine, and Algerian businessman Rachid Gharbi.
Gharbi was abusive and contemptuous of women, and left the relationship when Marc was 7, after Monique returned to nursing to support her children.
Lépine and his younger sister lived with other families, seeing their mother on weekends.
Lépine was considered bright but withdrawn, and had difficulties with peer and family relationships.
He legally changed his name to Marc Lépine at the age of 14 giving "hatred of his father" as the reason.
Lépine's application to the Canadian Forces was rejected, and in 1982 he began a science program at a college, switching to a more technical program after one year.
In 1986, he dropped out of the course in his final term, and was subsequently fired from his job at a hospital due to his poor attitude.
He began a computer programming course in 1988, and again abandoned it before completion.
Lépine twice applied for admission to the École Polytechnique, but lacked two required compulsory courses.
Lépine had long complained about women working in "non-traditional" jobs.
After several months of planning, including the purchase of a semi-automatic rifle, he entered the École Polytechnique on the afternoon of December 6, 1989, separated the men from the women in a classroom, and shot the women, claiming that he was "fighting feminism".
He then moved into other parts of the building, targeting only the women, before killing himself.
His suicide note blamed feminists for ruining his life.
Lépine's actions have been variously ascribed from a psychiatry perspective with diagnoses such as personality disorder, psychosis, or attachment disorder, noting societal factors such as poverty, isolation, powerlessness, and violence in the media.
The massacre is regarded by criminologists as an example of a hate crime against women, and by feminists and government officials as misogynist attack and an example of the larger issue of violence against women.
December 6 is now observed in Canada as a National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women.